


Knowing the truth

by maxibee



Series: Of Magic and Angels [5]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: M/M, Max and Raf get to business, Secrets are never good, Shadow Market, parents malec, uncle Jace is annoying
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-30
Updated: 2018-09-30
Packaged: 2019-07-20 17:04:28
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,654
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16141649
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/maxibee/pseuds/maxibee
Summary: Fifteen years after Alec turned into an angel, Max and Rafael want to know how that all happened.But knowing the truth sometimes lead to discovering more mysteries.





	Knowing the truth

  Alec was sitting on the edge of the bed in Magnus’ guestroom. He was staring at the heavy clouds slowly moving in the sky and wondered what it would be like to fly through them. He could fly now, he had tried it a couple of times on the balcony but hadn’t dared go higher than a few feet. He still needed training before going higher and past the balcony.

  It had been almost a month now since the kidnapping and the transformation had happened. Jace and Izzy hadn’t found anything conclusive about the whereabouts of that accomplice warlock, but they did find a syringe. After analyzing it, Isabelle had been able to identify what Alec had been infected with.

  The first analyze showed that it was mainly angel blood, but no one believed it was the only component. Jace had angel blood and nothing like what happened to Alec had happened to him. Isabelle ran more tests before finally finding out what had been added to the angel blood. It was demon blood, a tiny amount of it.

  Alec could hear Jace and Izzy talking to Magnus in the living room but didn’t want to join them. They hadn’t visited him a lot during the past few weeks. Magnus told him it was because they weren’t giving up and kept investigating, but Alec didn’t believe it. He kept thinking how repulsive he might be into his Parabatai’s eyes now and he kept their interactions short every time Jace was around.

“What kind of demon has a blood that would turn Alec into an Angel?” Jace said while pacing around the living room. “I have angel blood, we know it for a fact, and I didn’t turn into one.”

“It could be anything…” Isabelle sighed and rubbed her temples. “We’ve been over this a million times now Jace. There wasn’t enough blood to determine what kind of demon it is.

“No matter what type of demon it is, Valentine needed a warlock to summon it.” Magnus said as he stroked Chairman Meow’s head. “Find the warlock and you’ll find the demon.”

“But that’s the problem, we have no way of finding him. He left no traces at the warehouse and there were only Valentine’s prints on the syringe.” Jace groaned and ran his hand through his golden locks in frustration.

“Then find Valentine and you’ll have answers.” Magnus deadpanned.

“You’re a genius! I hadn’t thought about that before.” Jace retorted angrily and glared at the warlock.

“All I’m saying is that you end up here every time one of your leads turned out to be a dead end and complain. Maybe there’s nothing more to seek. Maybe it’s time to think about Alexander and take care of him.” Magnus got up and walked closer to Jace, his voice becoming louder.

“Isn’t that your job as a boyfriend?! I’m trying to get revenge for my Parabatai and find out what happened to him! What are you actually doing for him, uh?” Jace spat out and pushed Magnus.

“What Alexander needs is not you finding out what happened but helping him move forward and figure out how to live his life now. Don’t be selfish Jace, you’re investigating all this to flatter your ego. You want to be the hero here because you’re too ashamed you let that happen in the first place. You don’t care about what Alexander might need or want.” Blue flames were escaping Magnus’ fingers at this point.

“Calm down!” Isabelle quickly stepped between the two and pushed them apart. “This is not helping. The last thing Alec wants is for you two to fight.”

“What I want is for you to leave.” Alec said as he finally came into the living room, wings pressed tight against his bare back.

“Alec…” Izzy started but Alec cut her off.

“I’m tired of hearing those conversations over and over again. I don’t want to hear any of it anymore.”

“Alec, come on, we are trying to find out what happened to you. Don’t you want to know?” Jace asked and walked closer to him.

“Does it really matter? It’s not like I could go back to being a regular Shadowhunter anyway.” Alec said bitterly and shook his head. “Stop investigating. Stop everything. Maybe it’s better not to know.”

“You can’t be serious…” Jace frowned. “Don’t you want Valentine and that warlock to pay for what they did to you? Don’t you want to see them being punished for what they did?”

“That’s what you want Jace.” Alec almost whispered, his voice low and hard. “I want to disappear and never show up at the Institute or in front of anyone again. That’s what I want right now. But if you want to go on and find them, then go ahead. But don’t come here again unless you actually want to help me. Magnus is right, you’re doing this for yourself.”

  Jace stared at Alec, his eyebrows furrowed, and fists clenched on his sides. It was hard enough for him to be failing in this investigation, but hearing that Alec thought he did it for selfish reasons was hurtful.

“Fine. If that’s what you think.” He said bitterly and turned around to grab his jacket off the couch. “You don’t have to see me again.” He added and walked towards the front, slamming it behind him as he left.

“This is unfair.” Isabelle whispered as she looked up at her brother. “You didn’t mean any of that, Alec. Jace cares about you and he’s trying to protect you. You know that.” She shook her head in disapproval and glanced at Magnus. “I’ll call tomorrow…”

  There was an awkward silence after Isabelle left. Magnus didn’t care about fighting with Jace, but it was totally different for Alec. The Angel instantly regretted his words and felt even worse than he did before. He had no right to take his frustration out on his Parabatai the way he did.

“You need to sit down Alexander.” Magnus said softly and took Alec’s hand carefully. “You need to calm down for a bit… and I need a drink.”

  Alec did as told and sat down on the coach before burying his face into his hands. This whole situation really wasn’t what he needed.

“Do you actually think what you told Jace?” Magnus asked as he sat down next to Alec, a glass of whisky in his hand.

“I don’t know… I think I do.” Alec sighed and glanced at the warlock. “I know he’s trying hard to find out what happened because he wants to know the truth even though I told him multiple times to drop it. Maybe he is doing it for me, but it just feels like he wants to keep busy to be away from me… Because he doesn’t want to be near some… some…” Alec shook his head and rubbed his face. “whatever he sees me as.”

“It’s easier to fear and push away than take time to understand.” Magnus said after a moment and placed his hand on Alec’s shoulder.

“You didn’t push me away though. You never did. But Izzy and Jace became distant because of those wings, pretending to be busy investigating something they know is hopeless” Alec frowned, his wings automatically retracting against his back in a protective way.

“Give them time. They will come back to you. Your siblings are only trying to get to know the new you, even if they are not showing it by being around you.” Magnus said softly while smoothing down a few feathers in Alec’s wings.

“But I’m still me! I haven’t changed! I’m still Alec, I… They don’t need to do that. I’m still the same...” Alec looked away as tears of frustration started to build behind his eyelids.

“Angel...” Magnus whispered and cupped Alec’s face, wiping the tears that ran down his cheek with his thumb. “… You need time to understand and accept all that happened to you. To me, you are still the same, you are still the beautiful boy I fell for, the second I saw him. Your wings are now part of who you are. We might not know the extent of your powers yet or if you are still mortal, but I promise you that through every step, I will be by your side. You are not alone in this.” He gently pressed his lips to Alec’s temple. “They might show it in a different way, but Jace and Izzy are there for you too. You’re pushing them away as much as they are scared to hurt you somehow.” The warlock pushed some dark locks away from Alec’s forehead.  “You should call Jace.”

“He’ll ignore me…” Alec mumbled while taking his phone out of his pocket.

“Maybe, but you’re not one to give up.” Magnus smiled softly and got up to poor himself another drink.

  Alec took his phone out and dialed Jace’s number.

 

**~15 Years Later~**  
  


  Rafael knew right away that he would be scolded. He just knew. Uncle Jace never looked at him that way unless he had failed a test, and his demonic language test was a catastrophe. What made it even more frustrating was that Max was laughing behind uncle Jace, obviously knowing what the punishment would be. Max didn’t even have to study all this, but he insisted he wanted to learn all about Shadowhunter training even though he was a warlock. Alec had been very pleased about it while Magnus thought Max should focus more on his warlock knowledge, but Max always did what he wanted.

“Being a Shadowhunter is not only about fighting, Raf.” Jace sighed and shook his head in disappointment.

“But uncle Jace, come on, I’m basically a pro already, I just mixed up a few things in the test. It doesn’t mean I’m a bad Shadowhunter.” Raf protested.

“I’m not saying you’re a bad Shadowhunter, you’re one of the best. Your father and I trained you, but you need to take every aspect of it seriously. Demonic language is part of it.” Jace said and handed Raf his test.

“You can’t be serious?!” Raf protested and rolled his eyes. “I scored 75/100 and you think it’s a failure?!”

“Your brother got 100.” Jace crossed his arms over his chest and frowned.

“But he’s half demon! It’s in his genes!” Rafael whined.

“Hey!” Max protested and threw a ball of magic at Raf, who dodged it like he did it hundreds of times before. “I’m just smarter than you!”

“You just cheated on the test with magic!” Rafael stuck his tongue out at his brother.

“I did not!” Max got up this time and clung to Jace’s arm. “Uncle Jace! Raf is always mean to me.” He pouted.

“How old are you guys? 5?” Jace rolled his eyes and ruffled Max’s hair.

“You’re both going to be grounded for it. Raf because you didn’t get a perfect score and Max because you’re making fun of your brother. You might as well help him with the archive.” Jace said and started to walk away.

“Oh no, no, no! You’re not sending us to the archive again!” Raf almost pleaded. “It took us hours last time!”

“There are still a lot of files that need to be organized in alphabetical order and I’m sure that after doing that you’ll think about studying your demonic language some more.” Jace said with a smirk. “I’ll come to the basement in two hours to check if you’re doing your job. You better get started.” And with that, Jace left to his meeting.

  Rafael turned to look at his brother. They always ended up punished together for some reasons. Raf suspected that Max secretly liked pissing their uncle off.

“Come on, let’s get started…” Raf sighed and pulled his brother to the basement.

“I didn’t cheat though…” Max still pouted as he followed Rafael. “You should have told me you struggled with demonic language, I would have helped you during the test.”

“But I didn’t want to cheat.” Raf said as he opened the door to the archive room. “I’m sixteen, I should be able to do that on my own and not ask my little brother to help me cheat.” He grabbed a pile of dusty files and put them on the table.

“It would have just been helping, not cheating.” Max corrected and sat down on the table next to the files and took the first one.

“Why don’t you help me now? Isn’t there a spell or magic trick or whatever to organize these old things in alphabetical order?” Raf raised an eyebrow and looked up at his brother.

“There probably is… I should ask papa about it.” Max said absentmindedly as he kept reading the file.

“Great… You don’t even know how to do those things.” The Shadowhunter complained and ruffled his hair. “This is going to take hours…” He got up and took another pile of files and started organizing them.

  Rafael really didn’t get why Shadowhunters started using technology so late at the Institute. He suspected that some of the books he used to study were older than his warlock father and that wasn’t a compliment at all. Some of those files were probably just as old judging by the color some sheets had turned into.

“Are you just here to read or are you actually going to help me?” Rafael complained as Max still hadn’t moved away from the table he was sitting on.”

“Raf… this file is about dad.” Max said softly and looks up at his older brother.

“What do you mean it’s about dad?” Raf frowned lightly and walked over to Max to take a look at the file.

“It’s uncle Jace’s writing.” Max said. “Look, it says here that dad got infected by something that turned him into an angel.”

“Well, we know that already. What’s so new about this?” Rafael asked with a shrug.

“It says dad has demon blood.” Max said while pointing at what seemed to be results of some kind of blood test. “There’s aunt Izzy’s name on this. She must have analyzed dad’s blood or something.”

“Demon blood? You’re sure the file is not about papa?” Raf took the file from Max to read it more thoroughly.

“No, it’s dad. There’s his name on it.” Max shook his head and pointed at the test again. “It says that they couldn’t find out what kind of demon blood dad was infected with.”

“Why would he have demon blood when he turned into an angel?” Rafael asked and glanced at Max. “That doesn’t make sense.”

“Well, papa said uncle Jace had pure angel blood in him, right? But uncle Jace isn’t an angel like dad. Maybe it’s the demon blood that made dad what he is now.” Max suggested while scratching his head.

“That sounds crazy…” Rafael turned the page to read further and frowned a bit. “It’s written here that there was a warlock involved but that they could never prove or find him.”

“A warlock?” Max sounded suddenly even more interested. “What does it say about him?”

Rafael read quickly and pointed at a couple of words. “uhm... Here! Grey skin and a tail. That’s all they got.”

“That doesn’t sound familiar.” Max shook his head.

“Could be any warlock. You’re blue and so is Aunt Catarina… I guess there are probably lots of grey warlocks with tails.” Rafael pointed out and rubbed his neck.

“Maybe…” Max sighed and thought for a second. He then suddenly looked up at his brother with a smirk. “There’s one place we could go to and try to find that warlock though.”

Rafael smirked back at his brother and they both jumped off the table at the same time before shouting together.

“The Shadow Market!”

  Rafael and Max had never been allowed to go to the Shadow Market alone. Max had gone a couple of times with Magnus and Catarina, but Rafael had never had the opportunity to come at all. Max definitely seemed a lot more comfortable walking between the stalls than Rafael. Maybe a little too comfortable considering of how many times he supposedly went to the Market.

“Do you even know where we’re going?” Rafael asked as he looked at a fairy with some flowers braided into her green hair. Rafael thought he wasn’t being obvious but the wink she gave him proved otherwise.

“Trust me, I’ve been here before.” Max answered and pulled Rafael away from the fairy stall.

“How many times have you been here exactly?” squinted his eyes lightly.

“A few more times than what dad and papa believe.” Max replied and winked at his brother.

“Dios mio… You know you can’t come here alone Max!” Rafael scolded as he kept following his little brother.

“Relax, I didn’t do anything illegal or dangerous. I just wanted to uhm… explore the Market and learn more about the Downworld that’s all.” Max shrugged.

  Rafael just sighed and rolled his eyes. Max had always been adventurous, even when they were little. Max would always get in trouble and Rafael would cover for him. Now that Rafael was focusing on his Shadowhunter training, he couldn’t keep an eye on his little brother like he used to, and it didn’t even surprise him to hear that Max had visited the Shadow Market unsupervised.

“You’re aware that people know who we are, right? Having Magnus Bane and Alexander Lightwood as parents isn’t exactly something that goes unnoticed. Someone could have tried to use you for that.” Rafael frowned and pulled at his brother’s arm to make the warlock look at him. “You have to be more careful.”

“What exactly do I risk?” Max asked. “It’s exactly because I’m a Lightwood-Bane that people won’t do anything to me, or us. You don’t piss an Angel and a High Warlock.” He patted his brother on the shoulder and gave him a smile. “Besides, now I know where to get information. You should be proud of me, actually.”

“Right…” Rafael mumbled. “And where exactly do we get information?”

“Right there.” Max pointed at a small silver tent with light blue and pink lights.

  The brothers entered the tent and Max sat down on the chair next to a small table. He had obviously been here before and seemed to be comfortable enough to touch  the crystal ball that was in the middle of the table. Rafael was more wary. It all looked like a bad medium office mundanes went to in movies. Even his warlock father thought they looked ridiculous.

  Rafael was about to look in one of the boxes on the shelf next to him when a lady entered behind him. She had long light pink hair and dark golden skin. Her dress was long and floated airily around her as she walked around the table to sit in front of Max.

“Well, what a surprise.” He said and flashed her pointy teeth as the brothers. “The Lightwood-Banes boys, here at the Market. Does your dad know you’re here Max?” She asked and rested her chin in her palm as she looked at the blue warlock.

“Hi Katie.” Max greeted the female warlock. “Of course, he does. You know I never come to the Market without him knowing about it.”

  Rafael stared at his little brother for a second, surprised at how easily he lied. He definitely had done that several times before because Katie didn’t seem to doubt him.

“What can I do for you today? Are you looking for a potion?” She asked and looked up at Rafael with a smile. “You’re such a handsome boy, I’m sure you’re not here for a love potion.” She cooed and winked at the Shadowhunter.

“We’re not here for that kind of things.” Rafael quickly said as a light blush crept on his cheeks. “We are looking for someone. A warlock.”

“We thought that maybe you might have heard of him.” Max added.  “We don’t know his name. We just know that he’s a warlock. Grey skin and a tail. Does that ring a bell?”

“You will have to be more specific than that boys.” Katie said and played with the tarot cards on the table. “A few warlocks could fit that description.”

“But not all of them have worked for Valentine.” Rafael said with a frown.

  Katie dropped the cards and her smile disappeared. No one liked to hear about Valentine, even less being accused of collaborating with him.

“What exactly do you want?” Katie said in a less friendly tone this time. “Valentine’s been dead for almost fifteen years now.”

“Yes, that’s why we can’t really ask him, can we?” Max retorted and leaned closer to her. “We think a warlock might have been involved in some of his business, maybe even forced to do things for him that directly affected our family.”

“You mean your angel father.” Katie leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms almost protectively.

“Precisely.” Rafael stood next to Max. “What do you know?”

  Katie hesitated for a moment, glancing back and forth between the two brothers. “Nothing more than rumors.” She finally said. “I heard that Valentine came to the Market a year before his death. He was looking for a warlock, someone who could summon a demon for him.”

“What kind of demon? Did anyone agree to do that?” Rafael asked.

“You never had a choice when Valentine asked you to do something. You either did it or got killed.” Katie said defensively and looked away. “I don’t know who he threatened to do the job, not exactly, but I know he was looking for an Eidolon demon, at least, that’s what the rumor said.”

Max blinked in surprise. “Eidolon demon? Like the shape shifter type?” He asked and his eyes suddenly widened. “Thank you, Katie. I owe you one.” Max quickly got up and at grabbed his brother by the arm, pulling him out of the tent.

“If I get in trouble because of you I’ll turn you both into toads!” Katie shouted behind them as they left but the boys could barely hear her now that they were back in the crowded aisles of the Market.

  Rafael quickly followed his brother, not knowing why they left so quickly while they didn’t even get a name. But when Max acted that way it was always for a good reason. They made their way out of the Shadow Market, pushing a group of werewolves on their way before Max finally stopped and turned to look at his brother.

“We need to get home and look through papa’s stuff.” Max said quickly, already snapping his fingers and moving his hands to create a portal.

“Wait a second!” Rafael took his brother’s hand in his to make him stop what he was doing. “Why exactly do we need to go through papa’s things? Don’t you remember what happened last time we did that?!”

“Eidolon demon, Raf!” Max almost shouted. “Shape shifters! Just like Tessa Gray! Tessa is half Nephilim half Warlock and the only known warlock to be a shape shifter.”

“Are you suggesting that dad is actually a warlock?” Rafael blinked in confusion.

“No, not at all. But maybe Tessa could help us understand how shape shifting actually works and why Valentine wanted Eidolon blood to mix it with Angel blood.” Max quickly explained while pulling his hand away from Rafael’s hold to start creating the portal again.

  Rafael sometimes wondered how Max did to remember every story their warlock father had told them. There were probably hundreds of them and Max always remembered every name and detail of each one. Rafael knew about Tessa Gray, of course he did, but he hadn’t heard that name in years and to him, Tessa was just another warlock from his papa’s stories. It was obviously different for Max, who would live forever and perhaps meet all those people.

“Where do you think you’re going?!” a voice boomed behind the brothers, making them both jump in surprise. Max’s hands immediately froze and the portal he had just opened disappeared. A shadow crept over them and Rafael didn’t have to look up to know what, or rather who, it was.

“Max Lightwood-Bane!” Magnus said as he walked closer to the blue warlock. “What do you think you’re doing?!”

“Rafael why are you at the Shadow Market with Max?” Alec asked as he landed gracefully next to his son before retracting his wings against his back. “You both know you’re not allowed here alone!”

“How did you know we were here?” Max said while crossing his arms, annoyed that they had been caught.

“You really thought your uncle Jace wouldn’t notice you had left the Institute?” Alec retorted and frowned at Max, who immediately looked away in shame.

“You’re easy to track. We’re your parents, we always know how to find you.” Magnus said and his features softened. “We know why you’re here.” He continued. “We should all go home and have a conversation.”

“You know? Then you should help us!” Max quickly said and glanced at Rafael.

“Dad, we think we know what turned you into an Angel. We think that if we can re..” Rafael started but Alec cut him off.

“Eidolon blood. We know.” The Angel said softly.

“You knew?” Rafael looked at his father with a confused looked. “But… there was nothing in the file…”

“We should go home. We can’t have this conversation here.” Magnus told his husband, who nodded in agreement.

“Let’s go home.” Alec said and snapped his fingers. The golden portal opened a second later.

  Max and Rafael stepped through the portal first, confused and defeated.

  Once home, Rafael and Max sat side by side at the dining table as they waited for their fathers to start the conversation. Magnus came back from the kitchen with a tray of hot tea mugs. He handed one to everyone before sitting down next to Alec, in front of their sons.

  Max wrapped his hands around the mug and bit his bottom lip lightly while Rafael looked straight at his fathers, almost defying them to talk. Rafael hated being sidelined and it was exactly how he felt right now. At least he wasn’t alone in this.

“Are we in trouble…?” Max asked cautiously when he finally looked up at Magnus and Alec.

“We will discuss that later. But you will probably be.” Magnus answered and placed his mug on the table.

“It wouldn’t be fair to be grounded, considering that we went to the Shadow Market to investigate something about you.” Rafael said while looking at Alec. “Something you already knew about and hid from us deliberately.”

“We should have told you everything a long time ago.” Alec nodded lightly. “We just didn’t think it was necessary and we wanted to protect you. What has been done cannot be changed anyway, no matter what you try to do about it.”

“Well, now it seems pretty necessary to tell us, right? We’re not babies anymore, we can defend ourselves.” Rafael retorted and pushed the mug away before crossing his arms and leaning on the table. “Why wasn’t anything written in the file at the Institute?”

“Because I asked Jace not to do it.” Alec sighed and ran his fingers through his messy hair.

“You need to understand that things were different back then.” Magnus intervened before Rafael or Max could ask any more questions. “When your father came home that night with your uncle Jace and aunt Izzy, we all thought we would lose him. It’s a miracle he survived.” He explained softly. “But that was the easy part.”

“After I turned, Jace and Izzy investigated the warehouse where I was attacked. They found the syringe Valentine had used to inject the blood and ran some tests. They were not conclusive.” Alec looked at his sons. “The Clave ordered me to go to Idris to undergo some tests, but I refused, knowing very well what it meant.”

“Come on, they wouldn’t have hurt you.” Rafael said but quickly frowned as he saw the look Alec gave him. “You can’t be serious…”

“You don’t know everything about the Clave Rafael… There’s a lot more you need to learn.” Magnus mumbled.

  Rafael opened his mouth to ask what that meant but Alec started talking again before he could say anything.

“Papa eventually found out what type of demon blood was used, and the Clave wouldn’t have taken the risk to keep me, knowing I had a tiny bit of demon blood in my veins. So, I asked your uncle to hide the file in the archive of the Institute and pretend he lost it. No one ever goes there.” Alec explained. “Papa and I then left the country for a while.”

“How did you find out about the Eidolon blood?” Max asked before taking a sip of his tea.

“Just like you did.” Magnus said. “Being the High Warlock has its perks. It didn’t take long before some downworlders at the Shadow Market told me what Valentine had been up to.”

“But why Eidolon blood? Why that particular demon?” Rafael frowned lightly.

“Valentine wanted to create an Angel.” Alec resumed. “That’s what he had tried to do with your uncle Jace when he was a child. It gave Jace incredible abilities, but angel blood alone didn’t turn him into what Valentine wanted.”

“When we left the country, the first person we went to was Tessa Gray. Her progenitor is an Eidolon demon and we thought she could help.” Magnus continued. “She told us that in order to shape shift into someone, she needed something that belonged to them. You can’t shape shift otherwise. Tessa also told us that it was temporary and that it required a lot of energy to remain in the form of someone else.”

“That’s why Valentine needed angel blood and Eidolon blood mixed together…” Max whispered, finally understanding everything.

“What do you mean?” Rafael asked, still confused.

“Valentine wanted to create an Angel, not temporarily but definitely.” Max said to his brother. “By mixing Eidolon blood and angel blood together, Valentine created a new type of being.”

“We ran some other blood tests and realized that your father’s blood had mutated.” Magnus looked at Rafael. “When we first tried to find out what had been injected to Alec, we had found two distinctive types of blood. That’s how we knew it was angelic and demonic. But after a few weeks, the two bloods had merged together into a something we had never seen before.”

“So, you’re saying that dad is not an angel, nor a demon?” Rafael lifted his eyebrow.

“I am a unique kind of Angel, if you really want to put a name on it. The Angels don’t consider me as one of them, nor do demons.” Alec replied.

“Have you ever found the warlock who helped Valentine summon the demon?” Max asked curiously.

“We were never able to find him. We believe Valentine killed him after he completed the task he was hired for.” Magnus said. “Valentine was the only responsible one anyway. He probably threatened the warlock and used him to get what he wanted.”

“Does the Clave know now? Have you ever told anyone?” Rafael looked up at his Angel father.

“Jace and Izzy know. Uncle Simon and aunt Clary do too, but we kept it from everyone else.” Magnus finished his tea.

“Even grandma and grandpa?” Max asked in surprise. “Why didn’t you tell them?”

“It would have put them in a difficult position at the Clave if they were ever questioned about it. Your aunts and uncles are already in enough danger because of what they know.” Alec said softly. “Now, you are too. That’s why we kept it from you for so long.”

  Rafael kept quiet for a while, taking in everything his fathers had just told him and Max. His little brother seemed to have taken all that story quiet well and had left the table to go to his room after their conversation had ended. Rafael, on the other hand, was troubled about it and had been staring at his now cold tea for at least an hour.

  Knowing why and how his father had become an Angel should have answered all the questions he’d asked himself for years, but now there were other questions that kept popping to his mind and it was overwhelming. Why didn’t they trust the Clave? We were they hiding all this from everyone? His training had taught him that Shadowhunters existed to protect the world from dangers mundanes didn’t even know existed, even though sometimes their methods could seem unfair. _Sed lex, dura lex._ Rafael had been taught that and had never really questioned it. However, now that he knew his fathers were not trusting the Clave, he wanted to know the reasons for it.

  The young Shadowhunter slowly turned on his chair to look at his fathers, who were sitting on the couch behind him, quietly reading.

“Dad?” Rafael said hesitantly.

“Yes?” Alec looked up from his book gave his son a gentle smile.

“I want to know about the Clave.” Rafael said and sounded more confident this time.

“Do you want to go to the Academy? To study there?” Alec asked and closed his book.

“No. I don’t want the Clave to teach me about the Clave.” Rafael replied. “I want you and papa to tell me about it, why you don’t trust it.”

Magnus looked at Rafael before glancing at Alec. “Are you sure, sweetheart?” The warlock asked, his face serious and grave. “I doubt I can be objective.”

Rafael thought for a second, his father’s words having a lot more meaning now than what they would have had before. He nodded his head lightly and looked his fathers straight in the eyes.

“Tell me everything.”  

**Author's Note:**

> Hey there.  
> Sorry it took so long to update.  
> I hope you enjoyed it and got some of your questions answered. 
> 
> Thank you for reading <3 
> 
> Until next time,  
> M.


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